It’s been a long time since meaningful college football happened in Boulder, Colorado. The Colorado Buffaloes once had a strong reputation, winning a national title in 1990. Since then, it’s been difficult times for Colorado football.
That has all changed with the hiring of Deion Sanders as head football coach. Sanders achieved two undefeated conference seasons at Jackson State, then stepped away from his role there and hopped on a plane to Boulder.
Coach Prime notoriously accepted the job “sight unseen” – outside of the meetings he had, he hadn’t seen the campus, the football facilities, or met any of the existing team members. No problem for Coach Prime – he’s always been one for the spotlight.
Transfer Window is Open for Business
The first area where Coach Prime will make an impact is in recruiting. His abrupt departure from Jackson State gave pause to some observers, but Prime reminded the media that the transfer portal was opening and that there wasn’t a moment to waste.
Coach Prime has dramatically replenished the roster at Colorado. The refreshed roster features his son, Shedeur Sanders, the starting quarterback at Jackson State when his dad was the head coach. He will be the starting quarterback for the Buffaloes this year.
The roster will have a lot of transfers and new scholarship players. The Buffaloes have 42 new scholarship players on next year’s roster and 23 transfer players. Most notably, the number one cornerback prospect in the country from 2022 and 2023 are both on the Buffaloes’ roster next year. They have enough high-level recruits to compete with the top programs in the Pac-12.
Change of Direction in Program
More importantly, Coach Prime’s entrance to Colorado has been a wake-up call for the Colorado football program. Last year’s team went 1-11 and has had only two winning seasons over 17 years.
Coach Prime’s presence will bring legitimate football energy to the struggling program. Prime has already recruited the head coach of Kent State to become his offensive coordinator. Former NFL head coach Mike Zimmer (who was defensive backs coach in Dallas when Prime played there) will be a consultant to the staff. Having NFL quality coaching will bolster a roster dripping with top talent.
Coach Prime will also test his team with a trial by fire of epic proportions for a first-year Pac-12 conference head coach. The Buffaloes open the season against TCU. They face rival Nebraska in the home opener at Folsom Field, then open conference play on the road at Autzen Stadium in Eugene against Oregon.
Their first in-conference home game is against Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams and USC. Prime’s stud cornerbacks will have an opportunity to test themselves against the USC wide receiving corps that day!
